Sunday, June 30, 2013

Super fun day with Dominick's company. Thanks for the ride, ragazzi.

I received an email from Leif a couple of days ago asking me to join in a VIP ride on Sunday. I immediately said yes, as I need to do everything I can to get my name and services out there. The ride was in conjunction with Dom's company, Luxury Italian Tours, who I am starting to do some work for. I met Leif at his apartment at 6:45, we rode to Dom's, where Roberto, our van driver, met us and we drove out to Fonterutoli. We met Paul, Christina, and Tom there. Paul is a very strong rider from California, and he was joining for the ride. We all drove back into Castellina for a cafe to get the day started, then back to Fonterutoli to get started. Paul was obviously fit, and as he set up the rental bike we had brought, it was obvious he was an experienced rider. I later found out he was the California state champion a few years ago.

We started back up hill toward Castellina, then turned off to descend toward Colle in Val D'elsa. A really sweet descent. From there, we headed over, then up to San Gimignano. On the way we encountered a bike race with cars, support vehicles, motorcycles, the whole nine yards. We stopped and found a spot by the side of the road, and as the racers came by we could see they were juniors. They were at the bottom of a hill, and they were really flying. So cool to see young racers totally kitted out and really riding at a high level. The Italian cycling culture is really fun to be around. There were probably around 150 racers.

We climbed to San Gimignano, which was quite nice, and stopped there for a cafe and a pastry. Fuel to keep it going. Paul proved to be quite fast, and it was an effort at times to stay with him. From San Gimignano, we had a spectacular descent to Certaldo. It is a road I have climbed many times, but never descended. That was a mistake, as it is long, fast, but at a grade where you don't really need to hit the brakes much, if at all. From Certaldo, over to Poggibonsi on a pretty main road, then a break - water, food, etc. from the van. We then climbed to Castellina a 20 kilometer climb, very gentle and very fast. I was feeling very strong, and stayed at the front most of the time. I know that either Paul or Leif could drop me if they wished, but it did not really happen.

We had a super lunch in Castellina, just out of town to the south. Really excellent food, a few beers, wine, water, and of course, cafe. Paul, Leif, and I rode to Fonterutoli, and Dom rode in the van. Great day - 53.4 miles in 3:10 rolling time for an average speed of 16.8 mph with 3615 vertical feet climbed at a sun affected average temperature of 82. Loved it!